Chapter 221: Can You Come and Take Him Home?
Aaron Wyatt’s gentle caution made Annabelle Linton’s heart ache.
He was too good to her, so good she felt she could never repay him.
’And since I can’t repay him, the last thing I should do is hurt him.’
In moments of such distress, sorrow always felt more pronounced.
Annabelle Linton leaned against his chest as a single tear silently trickled from the corner of her eye.
"You’re overthinking things." She gently pushed him away and said in a low voice, "Aaron Wyatt, there’s something I need to tell you."
"Hm?"
Annabelle Linton licked her dry lips, not knowing how to begin.
’After all, she was the one who had kept this from him. Now, she truly didn’t know how to bring it up.’
But when she thought of the domineering Leona Grant, she knew she had no choice if she wanted to keep Aaron from getting hurt.
Annabelle Linton mustered her courage. "Actually, I..."
BUZZ— Just as Annabelle Linton was about to speak, Aaron Wyatt’s phone rang.
Aaron Wyatt frowned and pulled out his phone. He was about to hang up, but when he saw the caller ID, a strange light flickered in his eyes. He said to Annabelle Linton, "I have to take this call."
It was as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped on Annabelle Linton’s newfound courage. She said helplessly, "Okay..."
Aaron Wyatt stepped aside to answer the call, while Annabelle Linton stood where she was, wondering how she should bring the subject up again.
A moment later, Aaron Wyatt returned, his face etched with anxiety. "Annabelle, I’m so sorry, but I have to fly back to Celestia immediately. The company’s stock is in turmoil, and I’m the lead trader. If I don’t go back now, the company could go bankrupt."
Annabelle Linton understood. He worked in finance; the company couldn’t function without him.
What else could Annabelle Linton say? At such a critical time, her own problems would have to wait. "Alright, you should hurry back. Don’t worry about me."
"But I’m worried about you being here alone. By the way, what were you about to tell me? You can tell me now."
"It’s nothing, really. Just go, don’t worry about me."
Aaron Wyatt thought for a moment, then said, "Okay, how about this? I’ll call Tiana Taylor in a bit and ask her to look after you. And you have to be good, you hear?"
Annabelle Linton couldn’t help but laugh. ’I’m a grown woman.’ "I know."
Only then did Aaron Wyatt seem satisfied, and he hurried away.
Annabelle Linton watched his retreating figure, a bitter smile touching her lips.
’Aaron Wyatt, whatever you do, please, please, *please* don’t fall for me.’
...
For the next three days, Annabelle Linton threw herself wholeheartedly into her work.
’A woman has to have one or the other—love or a career.’
At three o’clock one morning, Annabelle Linton was jolted awake by the jarring sound of her phone.
Annabelle Linton groggily answered, "Hello...?"
In stark contrast to her drowsiness, the person on the other end sounded frantic. "Excuse me, are you Miss Annabelle Linton?"
The question jolted her fully awake.
Annabelle Linton froze for a few seconds before sitting bolt upright. She glanced uncertainly at the caller ID, her mind struggling to process what she was seeing. ’But... this is clearly Leona Grant’s phone number.’
She ran a hand through her messy hair and asked coolly, "And you are?"
"So it is you." The person on the other end sounded relieved. "Can you please come to The Aurora Bar in Arcturus right now?"
Annabelle Linton heard him calling from Leona Grant’s phone, and upon hearing the word "bar," she had a pretty good idea of what was going on.
Her voice involuntarily turned cold. "What is it?"
The person on the other end was taken aback by her cold tone for a moment before continuing, "Well, it’s like this... I’m a student from Celestia studying abroad, and I work part-time at the bar. For the past few days that I’ve been working, your husband has come here every single day.
He’s been calling out your name every day. He’s been drinking for three days straight now. I think he caught a cold from being out in the rain—he has a severe fever of forty-one degrees, but he won’t stop drinking. None of the staff can stop him. Can you please come and get him?"